iphone - CTFramesetterSuggestFrameSizeWithConstraints sometimes returns incorrect size?

Question

In the code below, CTFramesetterSuggestFrameSizeWithConstraints sometimes returns a CGSize with a height that is not big enough to contain all the text that is being passed into it. I did look at this answer. But in my case the width of the text box needs to be constant. Is there any other/better way to figure out the correct height for my attributed string? Thanks!

CTFramesetterRef framesetter = CTFramesetterCreateWithAttributedString(attributedString);
CGSize tmpSize = CTFramesetterSuggestFrameSizeWithConstraints(framesetter, CFRangeMake(0,0), NULL, CGSizeMake(self.view.bounds.size.width, CGFLOAT_MAX), NULL); 
CGSize textBoxSize = CGSizeMake((int)tmpSize.width + 1, (int)tmpSize.height + 1);

Answer 1

CTFramesetterSuggestFrameSizeWithConstraints works correctly. The reason that you get a height that is too short is because of the leading in the default paragraph style attached to attributed strings. If you don't attach a paragraph style to the string then CoreText returns the height needed to render the text, but with no space between the lines. This took me forever to figure out. Nothing in the documentation spells it out. I just happened to notice that my heights were short by an amount equal to (number of lines x expected leading). To get the height result you expect you can use code like the following:

NSString  *text = @"This
is
some
multi-line
sample
text."
UIFont    *uiFont = [UIFont fontWithName:@"Helvetica" size:17.0];
CTFontRef ctFont = CTFontCreateWithName((CFStringRef) uiFont.fontName, uiFont.pointSize, NULL);

//  When you create an attributed string the default paragraph style has a leading 
//  of 0.0. Create a paragraph style that will set the line adjustment equal to
//  the leading value of the font.
CGFloat leading = uiFont.lineHeight - uiFont.ascender + uiFont.descender;
CTParagraphStyleSetting paragraphSettings[1] = { kCTParagraphStyleSpecifierLineSpacingAdjustment, sizeof (CGFloat), &leading };

CTParagraphStyleRef  paragraphStyle = CTParagraphStyleCreate(paragraphSettings, 1);
CFRange textRange = CFRangeMake(0, text.length);

//  Create an empty mutable string big enough to hold our test
CFMutableAttributedStringRef string = CFAttributedStringCreateMutable(kCFAllocatorDefault, text.length);

//  Inject our text into it
CFAttributedStringReplaceString(string, CFRangeMake(0, 0), (CFStringRef) text);

//  Apply our font and line spacing attributes over the span
CFAttributedStringSetAttribute(string, textRange, kCTFontAttributeName, ctFont);
CFAttributedStringSetAttribute(string, textRange, kCTParagraphStyleAttributeName, paragraphStyle);

CTFramesetterRef framesetter = CTFramesetterCreateWithAttributedString(string);
CFRange fitRange;

CGSize frameSize = CTFramesetterSuggestFrameSizeWithConstraints(framesetter, textRange, NULL, bounds, &fitRange);

CFRelease(framesetter);
CFRelease(string);